Sir John Mills CBE (22 February 1908 – 23 April 2005), born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.

Life and career[link]

Mills was born at the Watts Naval School in North Elmham, Norfolk, England, and grew up in Belton, where his father was the headmaster of the village school^[1] and in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where he lived in a modest house in Ham's Road. He was educated at Norwich High School for Boys^[2], where it is said that his initials can still be seen carved into the brickwork on the side of the building in Upper St. Giles Street. He made his acting debut on the stage of the Sir John Leman School in Beccles in a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream when he played the part of Puck.^{[citation needed]} Upon leaving school he worked as a clerk at a corn merchants in Ipswich.

Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional debut at the London Hippodrome in The Five O'Clock Girl in 1929. He also starred in the Noël Coward revue Words and Music. He made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932), and appeared as Colley in the 1939 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite Robert Donat.

In September 1939, at the start of World War II, Mills enlisted in the Royal Engineers.^[3] He was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. But in 1942 he received a medical discharge because of a stomach ulcer.^[3] He starred in Noël Coward's In Which We Serve.

Mills took the lead in Great Expectations in 1946, and subsequently made his career playing traditionally British heroes such as Captain Scott in Scott of the Antarctic (1948). Over the next decade he became particularly associated with war dramas, such as The Colditz Story (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). He often acted in the roles of people who are not at all exceptional, but become heroes due to their common sense, generosity and right judgment.

From 1959 through the mid-1960s, Mills starred in several films alongside his daughter Hayley. Their first film together was the 1959 crime drama Tiger Bay, in which John plays a police detective investigating a murder that Hayley's character witnessed. Following Hayley's rise to fame in Pollyanna (1960) and the 1961 family comedy The Parent Trap, John and Hayley again starred together, in the 1965 teen sailing adventure The Truth About Spring, the 1964 drama The Chalk Garden (with Deborah Kerr in the lead role), and the 1966 comedy-drama The Family Way, in which John plays an insecure, overbearing father and Hayley plays his son's newlywed wife.

As Col. Barrow in Tunes of Glory, Mills won the best Actor Award at the 1960 Venice Film Festival. For his role as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970) — a complete departure from his usual style — Mills won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His most famous television role was probably as the title character in Quatermass for ITV in 1979. Also on the small screen, in 1974 he starred as Captain Tommy "The Elephant" Devon in the six-part television drama series The Zoo Gang, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from World War II, with Brian Keith, Lilli Palmer and Barry Morse.

Mills also starred as Gus: The Theatre Cat in the filmed version of the musical Cats in 1998.

In 2000, Mills released his extensive home movie footage in a documentary film entitled Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, with interviews with Mills, his children Hayley, Juliet and Jonathan and Richard Attenborough. The film was directed and edited by Marcus Dillistone, and features behind the scenes footage and stories from films such as Ice Cold in Alex and Dunkirk. In addition the film also includes home footage of many of John Mills' friends and fellow cast members including Laurence Olivier, Harry Andrews, Walt Disney, David Niven, Dirk Bogarde, Rex Harrison and Tyrone Power.

Mills' last cinema appearance was playing a tramp in Lights 2 (directed by Marcus Dillistone); shot at Pinewood Studios, he was photographed by cinematographer Jack Cardiff. They had last worked together on Scott of the Antarctic in 1948. Their combined age was 186 years, a cinema record.

Altogether he appeared in over 120 films.

Honours[link]

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1960. In 1976 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2002, he received a Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the highest award given by the Academy, and was named a Disney Legend by The Walt Disney Company.

Family[link]

The Wick on Richmond Hill in Richmond, Greater London, was the family home for many years.

Mills's sister Annette Mills was known as the partner of the puppet "Muffin", in the BBC Television series Muffin the Mule between 1946 and 1955. Her grand-daughter is the actress Susie Blake.

His first wife was the actress Aileen Raymond, who died only five days after he did. They were married in 1927 and divorced in 1941. Raymond later became the mother of actor Ian Ogilvy.

His second wife was the dramatist Mary Hayley Bell. Their marriage on 16 January 1941 lasted 64 years, until his death in 2005. They were married in a rushed civil ceremony, due to the war, and it was not until 60 years later that they had their union blessed in a church.^[4] They lived in The Wick, London, for many years, but sold the house to musician Pete Townshend in 1975 and moved to Hills House, Denham.

Mills and Bell had two daughters, Juliet, star of television's Nanny and the Professor and Hayley, a Disney child star who starred in Pollyanna, The Parent Trap and Whistle Down the Wind and one son, Jonathan Mills. In 1947 Mills appeared with his daughters in the film So Well Remembered. Mills's grandson by his daughter Hayley, Crispian Mills, is a musician, best known for his work with the alternative rock group Kula Shaker.

Death[link]

In the years leading up to his death, he appeared on television only on special occasions, his sight having failed almost completely in 1992. After that, his film roles were brief but notable cameos.

He died aged 97 on 23 April 2005 in Denham, Buckinghamshire,^[5] following a chest infection. A few months after Sir John's death, Mary Hayley Bell (Lady Mills) died on 1 December 2005. Sir John and Lady Mills are buried in Denham Churchyard.

Selected filmography[link]

Stage performances[link]

• The Good Companions (1974)
• Great Expectations (1976)
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• Of Mice and Men

Principal television performances[link]

• Dundee and the Culhane (1967)
• The Zoo Gang (1974)
• Quatermass (1979)
• Young at Heart (1980–1982)
• Martin Chuzzlewit (1994)

Box Office Ranking[link]

For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted him among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the Motion Picture Herald.

• 1946 - 8th^[6]
• 1947 - 6th (4th most popular over all)^[7]
• 1949 - 3rd (8th most popular over all)^[8][9]
• 1950 - 4th (6th most popular overall)^[10]
• 1954 - 10th^[11]
• 1955 - 2nd (5th most popular overall)^[12]
• 1956 - 10th^[13]
• 1958 - 6th^[14]
• 1961 - 5th^[15]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Mills (actor)

Wikinews has related news: Sir John Mills dies at 97

• John Mills at the Internet Movie Database
• It's Not Just Michael Powell: British Films of the 30s 40s and 50s
• Sir John Mills Theatre - Eastern Angles
• Quatermass.org.uk - John Mills Profile at the Nigel Kneale & Quatermass Appreciation Site
• Photographs and literature